Rechargeable flashlights are known in which a flashlight containing a rechargeable battery is provided with a compatible charging unit which both holds the flashlight and charges the battery when the flashlight is positioned therein. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,689, it is desirable to provide such a flashlight and charger assembly wherein the body of the flashlight is not used as a conduction path for either side of a lamp circuit, so that mating parts of the flashlight may be provided with an anodized, enamel, or other finish, and do not require re-machining in order to provide a conductive path between finished mating parts.
In the use of flashlights by armed personnel, such as by policemen, it is desirable to provide a flashlight that can be gripped and intermittently actuated with a single hand. For example, it is desirable to provide an actuator at the rear end of such a flashlight, so that the flashlight may be gripped with the fingers of one hand, and the actuator can be operated by the thumb of the same hand. However, locating a switch mechanism at the rear end of the flashlight while maintaining a construction which does not utilize the body of the flashlight as a conducting member, and in which a continuous connection is maintained between the battery terminals and a pair of external charging contacts presents design difficulties for which no solution is suggested in the above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,689.